Improvement in carriages



UNITED STATES PATNT OFFICE.

ELVARD FRANCE, OF COBLESKILL-NEW YORK.

` iMPnovEn/nam'1N-cneualnees Specilication forming part of Letters Patent No. 41,765, dated March l. 1h64.y

Be it known thatv I, EDWARD FRANCE, of Cobleslrill ;;ii'i"thfe coufntyiof Schoharie and State oZ? ew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Uarriages; and I hereby declare the following' to be a'full, clear, and exact description of the same, ret'- erence being had to ing, in which-f;` l. f

Figure-1 is a perspective vewfof that part otl a carriage towjhich my improvement is ap-4 plied, and Figs.- 2 and-'3 aredetail views in elevation illustratingthe operation ot" the device subject-matter of this patent.

In carriages, particularly light or pleasure carriages, in .which but one horse or draft-animal is used, oriseveral horses are used in tile, the attachment to the vehicle of the horseor horses is effected by means of shafts directly connected with: the axle-tree. These shafts also serve the purpose of governing the course of the vehicle, and the harness of the horse is therefore so constructed as that the'motions of the animal may be readily imparted to the carriage. The traces are thus attache-ble to the whitlietrees, which form part of the shafts, and are intended for pulling the carriage,

while the brecching-straps lare used to back or retain the vehicle.

v From this it will be seen that the horse is necessarily tied to the shafts, and that to disengage the horse from the shafts is both a comparatively lengthy and diiiicult operation.

lhe danger to which persons driving resti ive or spirited animals are exposed, and the numerous accidents 'on record that have occurred and are constantly occurring, have led to the invention of contrivances the object of which is the sudden release or detaching of the horse from vthe vehicle. This has been etiected in but one way, which consists in the detaching the traces from the whiftlctree; butl this has been found inefficient, because the horse remains still attached to the shafts by the breeching, and it' not the dropping of the shafts often embarasses the horse by their inthe accon panying drawl are 'generally not readily detachable, whereby' they occupyvmnch room in cari iage-houses.

-' lo remedy these and other defects Iinvca'ri riages 'using but one horse, or several inV tile, 1s the object ot' my invention, andi have accomplished the same by a simple and' inex: pensive device applied tothe axlc-tree l'or the vlocliing and unlockingithe shafts or thills of" carriages; and my invention consists in `the combination ot two bolts operating in unison, asv described, with spring mechanism for the automatic locking orunlocking oftheshafts;

also, in the combination oftwo bolts, coupled as before referred. to, and spri ng mech an ism, arranged to operate as described, with a ratchet and pawl, or other device for locking the bolts; i

also, incombining with the bolts and spring,

or the mechanical equivalents thereof, a pawl* or lever, so arranged or located as that it mayv bereadily actuated to release the' springv' y ratchet and effect the unlocking of the shafts;

upon the opposite side of .the axle-tree by an indented disk or ratchet wheel, E. Upon this ratchet-wheel a pawl or lever, AGr, pivoted at p, is caused to bear with pressure derived from a spring, s, so that the wheel is always' locked unless the pawl. is lifted out of contact with the ratchet.

The lever or pawl G is provided with apedal, L, located at some convenient part, so that the'driver may easily reach it'with his foot or otherwise, and operate it at any given moment.-

With the disk or ratchet is Icombined a I,

spring, R, actuating it to rotate upon -it's axle in the direction indicated by the arrows, so that as soon as released by the pawl -it will rotate, and consequently turn the lever D to withdraw the bolt from the Jchill-irons.

The paWl-lever G, I further provide with a stud, r, corresponding to two-notches or rev'cess es, w,in the wheel-plates W W', arranged y in such manner in relation to each other that on depressing the pedal of the pawl for the purpose of unlocking; the bolts the stud r will at the same time enter the notches, and thus lock the wheel-plates, and thereby steady the be understood that this apparatus inay be used as or independently of a safety,device.

supposing the horse about to run away, lthe driver will then press the lever G at L, there by suddenly release' the spring R, which, rotating the disk, willV unlock the bol-ts, and thus disengage the shafts and sever the connection of the vehicle with the horse; at the same time the wheel-plate becomes locked by the introduction within the corresponding recesses, W, of the stud r. To attach the shafts itis only necessary to place .the shafts in position and to give them a turn to the lever D by seizing the handle or key la and imparting rotary motion on the pivot until the pawl falls in with the indentation. Y

It is obvious that this my invention is susceptible of many modifications as to the construction and arrangement; but I have shown one Way for the purpose of illustrating the principle of my invention. I

And having now fully described the same, I claiml. In combination with two bolts operating `Vin unison, vas described, the herein described spring mechanism for the automatic locking or unlocking of the shafts, as set forth.

2. The combination of two bolts, coupled v as before referred to, and spring mechanism arranged to operate as described, with aratchet and pawl for locking the bolts, substantially as hereiny set forth.

3. Combining `with the bolts and'l springa pawl and ratchet, so arranged or located as that it may bereadily actuated to release the spring-ratchet and effect the unlocking of the shaft-s, substantially as herein set forth.

4. The method oflockiug the wheelplate or fifth-Wheel by operating the spring-ratchet for the purpose of steadying the course of the vehicle, 'substantially as herein set forth.

Inv testimony j whereof I have signed my name to this speeitication before two subscrib-` ing witnesses.

EDWARD FRANCE.

Witnesses A. IoLLoK,

EDM. F. BROWN. 

